Online Video Soaring as Users Come to Accept Advertising

Michael Phillips

Posted on 6.29.2010

According to research from Frank N. Magid Associates, conducted on behalf of Metacafe, consumers still prefer short-form video online. The study shows that short, "professional" videos account for 8 of the 10 most popular video genres. That includes music videos, television show clips and movie previews. And in a telling symptom of the Internet age, one in four respondents claim that these short professional videos are more entertaining than full-length television shows.

85% of males and 68% of females watch online video weekly -- a 15% and 27% increase over 2009, respectively.

There are a few important takeaways here. First, keep your videos relatively short -- if you have a lot of content to publish, consider breaking it up into smaller parts so viewers will watch everything. Second, try to make your videos as professional (and entertaining) as possible -- grainy videos and unsteady camera work is fine for a quick blooper, but not good for branding purposes. Third, don't be afraid of running ads before, during or after your videos. Consumers have come to accept that the price to pay for free video content is often a brief advertisement here and there.